HORSES. 159 



cover the glans. They cannot be successfully removed 

 with the knife or cautery, as they will sprout again. 

 Amputation of the penis is the only remedy j which is 

 neither difficult nor dangerous. 



Turn back the sheath, and draw out the penis as far 

 as possible, and then cut it off as far below the diseased 

 part as may be deemed necessary. The remaining 

 portion will be retracted within the sheath. Little 

 bleeding will generally follow ; excepting a slight flow 

 of blood for a few days, in the passing of urine. The 

 orifice of the urethra is kept open by the urine, and no 

 unpleasant circumstances usually follow from this oper- 

 ation. 



SPRING HALT. 



Spring halt, or string halt, is a kind of lameness pecu 

 liar to the hind quarters of a horse, which causes a sud- 

 den jerking of the legs upwards in his going. When it 

 seizes the outside muscles, the horse straddles and throws 

 his legs outward. When the inside muscles are affected, 

 his legs are twitched up to his belly. It is in one or in 

 both legs. The cure is difficult. Rubbing and fermen- 

 tations are recommended, with moderate exercise daily. 



STIFLE. 



Cause. It is caused by the dislocation or slip of a 

 small bone, about as big and as long as a man's finger, 

 at the stifle joint, above the inside bend of the hough or 

 gambrel, which is much the same as the knee-pan in 

 man. 



Symptoms. Lead the horse over bars or other imped- 

 iments, one and a half or two feet high, and he will drag 

 a stifled leg over, being unable to raise it up, and step 

 over. 



Remedy. If the stifle is not slipped out of place, but 

 only strained, it may be cured by bathing it in a lini- 

 ment made of three parts of brandy and one of the oil 

 of spike, heated in by a chafing dish of coals. This will 

 contract and strengthen the ligament, and if the lame 



